- Law of Sedition (Section 124A) is being (mis)used as a weapon of political control by Indian State
Amritsar, Punjab (February 04, 2011): In a sudden move, the city police have filed a challan in the trail court of CJM Kuldeep Singh against 22 Dal Khalsa activists after the period of 6 and a half years of registering of the case. As per information available with Sikh Siyasat six of Dal Khalsa activists today appeared in the court. The court has directed all the 22 accused to appear in the court on the next date of hearing i.e. March 13. All the accused are on bail.
It is pertinent to mention that on June 8, 2005 the Amritsar Police registered a case under various offences including sedition at Civil Lines Police Station against Dal Khalsa activists for organizing a Genocide Remembrance March on the eve of 21 anniversary of “Operation Bluestar”. The police named 22 senior activists in the FIR no 125 under section 153-B, 153-A,124-A,188 IPC. Since early 2006, the trail court has consigned the case ‘sine die’ (legal term).
After waiting for 5 years, we approached Punjab and Haryana High Court in Feb 2010 and filed a petition praying for the quashing of the FIR. The case is pending in the High Court and next date of hearing is Feb 9, said Kanwar Pal Singh.
Interestingly, the police today has filed a charge-sheet (challan) under 188 IPC whereas sanction to prosecute the accused under sedition charges (124-A, 153-B) from Department of Home Affairs and Justice is still awaited.
Contesting the police theory, he said the march passed through the streets of Amritsar peacefully and culminated at Sri Akal Takhat Sahib. A number of policemen and intelligence operatives were in attendance to monitor the event although no incidents of incitement or violence occurred and no attempt therefore was made to stop the march or make any arrests during the event. He further said the police not only distorted and twisted the slogans but also cooked up few slogans to portray Dal Khalsa as an “anti-India and anti-Hindu”.
Among those against whom case has been registered are: H. S. Dhami, Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib, Kanwarpal Singh, Sarabjit Singh Ghuman, Balraj Singh Bhalaipur, Kuldeep Singh, Arpal Singh Chinna, Amrik Singh Ajnala, Baldev Singh Ajnala, Sukhdev Singh, Gurdeep Singh Kalkat, Giani Amrik Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Sarwan Singh, Sawinder Singh Kot Khalsa, Darshan Singh, Harminder Singh, Kashmir Singh, Lakhvinder Singh and Avtar Singh.